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Speaker of parliament highlights KRG’s
international role at London conference
22.12.2007
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December
22, 2007
LONDON,-- At a conference on the ‘Kurds in
international affairs’ in London on Friday, Adnan
Mufti, the Speaker of Kurdistan’s parliament, asked
the international community to continue supporting
the Kurdistan Region’s status as a federal region
and its policies which have been a force for good in
Iraq.
Speaking at the Royal Institute of International
Affairs, known as Chatham House, the UK’s leading
foreign policy think tank, Mufti said “A strategic
agreement between Iraq and the US is expected to be
signed next year. Any such agreement must contain
guarantees for the people of the Kurdistan Region.”
In November this year President George W. Bush and
Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki signed a declaration
of principles, a non-binding agreement which sets
the framework for future talks on a formal pact. |
Dr Adnan Mufti, Iraqi Kurdistan parliament speaker
at the Chatham House, December 21, 2007 |
The Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) and the people of the Kurdistan
Region, who fought for decades against the Ba’ath
regime and welcomed the liberation of Iraq, hope
that formal bilateral or multilateral agreements
will include protection of the Kurds’ federal
region.
The Speaker of the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA),
the regional parliament in Erbil, said that the
KRG’s policy is to maintain good relations with all
its neighbours.
Mr Mufti outlined the role of the KNA in
representing the people. “As far back as 1992, the
KNA’s members voted for federalism as the best
system governing our relations with the rest of
Iraq. In 2005, federalism was approved by 78% of
voters across Iraq.”
Chatham House’s Middle East analysts wrote in a
recent briefing paper that international policy
makers should engage more seriously with Kurdish
issues. They wrote,www.ekurd.net
“Kurdish interests are
coinciding with the designs of the prominent members
of the international community – the European Union,
and, more importantly, the US.”
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Director of the Ditchley
Foundation and formerly the UK government’s Special
Envoy for Iraq, also spoke at the conference. He
said, “The Kurdish contribution to Iraq has been so
positive. The Kurds need to balance long-term
aspirations with more pressing short-term needs. My
advice to them is to carry on making wise choices.”
Other speakers included journalists and academics
with expertise in the Middle East and Kurdish
issues.
The conference programme is available here
in PDF
‘The Kurdish policy imperative’, the Chatham House
briefing paper by Prof Gareth Stansfield, Robert
Lowe and Dr Hashem Ahmadzadeh, is available here
in PDF
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